Sexual satisfaction in Armenian women living in the United States: Exploring acculturation and gender role ideology and the meditational role of sex guilt

Abstract

Sexual satisfaction is associated with many personal and relational benefits (Sprecher, 2002; Yeh et al., 2006). However, one cannot assume that the factors that influence sexual satisfaction are universal. There are many cultural, contextual and relational factors that vary based on ones background (Drew, 2003; McClelland, 2014; Richgels, 1992). In particular for Armenian American women, who typically come from an immigrant background, the degree to which they associate with the United States culture could influence their sexual beliefs and practices (Dagirmanjian, 2005). Moreover, ascribing to traditional or egalitarian gender roles could impact their sexual satisfaction as well, especially since the purity of the females in an Armenian family is central to the respect of the family as a whole (Bakalian, 2011; Dagirmanjian, 2005). As they transition into the American culture, Armenian American women are likely to experience conflict when they do not follow traditional and conservative expectations, which could lead to guilt related to violating personal standards of proper sexual conduct. The focus of the present study was to more fully understand the influence of acculturation to the United States and gender role ideology on the sexual satisfaction of Armenian American women. As part of this exploration, the potential mediating role of sex guilt was also examined. This study analyzed data on 217 Armenian women who lived across the United States. Many of the results do not support previous research linking acculturation, gender role ideology, or sex guilt to sexual satisfaction. For example, this study did not find significant relationships between acculturation and sexual satisfaction, gender role ideology and sexual satisfaction, and sex guilt and sexual satisfaction. In addition, sex guilt did not mediate the relationship between both acculturation and gender role ideology and sexual satisfaction. The study found that 58% of the variance of sex guilt was accounted for by acculturation and gender role ideology and that 1.2% of the variance of sexual satisfaction was explained by the combination of acculturation, gender role ideology, and sex guilt. The findings’ implications for counseling psychology, future research directions, and study limitations are discussed.

Research has demonstrated that men have markedly worse health outcomes than women and have higher rates of death from all 15 leading causes of death except Alzheimer’s disease. Little is known about the cause of this discrepancy, except that in evaluations of lifestyle choices and preventive health factors, men engage in far more health-defeating behaviors than women, including consuming diets significantly lower in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and micronutrients, and higher in fat and cholesterol. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the links between hegemonic masculinity, social physique anxiety, and poor dietary choices in men. Hegemonic masculinity is a form of masculine identification associated with cultural dominance and subordination of women and other, less idealized forms of masculinity. Specifically, I hypothesized that adherence to hegemonic masculinity would predict higher rates of social physique anxiety among American men that, in turn, would predict worse dietary habits and patterns. The current study examined survey responses from 313 male participants living in the United States. A multiple regression indicated that the total masculinity scale score was not significantly related to food choices, nor to social physique anxiety. Social physique anxiety, however, was found to be highly predictive of dietary choices and beliefs. These results have implications for how mental health professionals may assist men in making more healthful and conscientious choices.